Lehigh County's advisory team will present findings on future of Cedarbrook nursing home

Officials will consider converting Cedarbrook into a non-profit organization.

Three months after its creation by the Lehigh County commissioners, the Cedarbrook Advisory Team will meet Thursday to present its findings and seek public input on the nursing home's future.

The three-person team has spent weeks reviewing the facility's operations and finances, and has visited other nursing homes around the state to see how they've coped in recent years. Changes in the state's funding formula have prompted several counties to leave the nursing home business. Northampton County was prepared to go that route in 2011, but voters overwhelmingly rejected the idea in a referendum.

In an effort to remove politics from the mix, commissioners appointed a team of health care professionals to research the options available to Cedarbrook. The group includes a former Phoebe Ministries president, the Rev. Rod Wells; Lehigh Valley Health Network's associate chief medical officer, Debbie Salas-Lopez; and Capital BlueCross Lehigh Valley's vice president, Anne Baum.

Wells, chairman of the team, said Thursday's meeting shouldn't include any bombshells. Cedarbrook's quality of care is excellent, and the staff is dedicated to the residents, he said.

"I think there's going to be a lot of affirmation about the efforts being made financially and the efforts being made administratively," he said.

Instead, the nursing home needs to re-examine how it caters to its patients and how it is organized, Wells said. In a status report this month, the team said the nursing home industry has shifted as more people choose to spend their golden years at home.

"Trends such as these will challenge county-owned skilled nursing facilities to evaluate their future role and expand their services to meet these emerging trends," the report states.

Among the possibilities is converting Cedarbrook into a nonprofit organization, Wells said. County officials have said turning the nursing home into a 501(c)(3) could allow it to draw in more funding under the current state formula, and Northampton County officials have publicly discussed the idea as well. The Cedarbrook Advisory Team was impressed after visiting Centre Crest Nursing Home, which switched from Centre County's nursing home into a nonprofit home in 2013, Wells said.

"That will be one of the options that will be presented to the public," he said.

Regardless of the organizational changes, Wells said Cedarbrook will likely need to consider the renovations floated by county Executive Tom Muller and Director of General Services Rick Molchany. The proposal would have the county spend $14 million to upgrade the D Wing so residents have access to suite-style restrooms they share with a handful of others, instead of dorm-style bathrooms that serve an entire floor.

"There is a lot of merit there," Wells said of the proposal.

Also slated for discussion is who will manage the nursing home's day-to-day operations, a contract that is up for grabs. Muller has recommended the county award Good Shepherd Rehabilitation a $2.2 million, four-year deal, but his suggestion was not well received by commissioners June 10. Legislators said Good Shepherd, which was not the low bidder, has never managed a nursing home of Cedarbrook's size or controlled someone else's nursing home.